| Restrictions | OK |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Employment Relations Authority - Auckland |
| Reference No | AA 376/03 |
| Hearing date | 24 Oct 2003 - 5 Dec 2003 (2 days) |
| Determination date | 15 December 2003 |
| Member | Y S Oldfield |
| Representation | H Thorpe ; A Schirnack |
| Location | Auckland |
| Parties | Ruschin v The Beachfront Resthome Ltd |
| Summary | UNJUSTIFIED DISMISSAL - Summary dismissal - Serious misconduct - Alleged assault of elderly patient - Co-workers alerted respondent's director to patient's distressed state - Patient said was hit on head - Bruised arm - Doctor believed mistreatment - Applicant alleged was accident - No incident form filled out - Applicant disregarded instruction to not perform any care duties for patient - Suspended on full pay - Dismissed at start of meeting - Relevant information not given to applicant - No opportunity to respond to some allegations - Dismissed before applicant knew extent of adverse information against her - Procedurally unfair - Dismissal unjustified - Remedies - Contributory conduct by failure to complete incident report, failure to comply with prohibition on caring for patient, and alleged assaults - Respondent formed reasonable belief serious misconduct occurred in relation to alleged assault - Rare case - Contributory conduct 100 percent - Caregiver |
| Result | Application granted ; No order for costs |
| Cases Cited | Ark Aviation Ltd v Newton [2001] ERNZ 133;Northern Distribution Union v BP Oil NZ Ltd [1992] 3 ERNZ 483 |
| Number of Pages | 9 |
| PDF File Link: | PDF file not available for download, please contact us to request a copy. |